part one of three: thingsI did recently that a terrible film student such as myself can be sufficiently proud of.

I did three things recently that a terrible film student such as myself can be sufficiently proud of.

1. FINALLY see Citizen Kane

2. Attend Tropfest.

3. Watch the Oscars (some of it)


Lets be clear, my ignorance has kept me from knowing a LOT of things. It still to this very day makes me weep into my pillow at night like a small malnourished child. (malnourished in matters of cinematic culture that is.)

From what I knew, through the sifting and gleaning of name dropping, lecturers and film lists...Citizen Kane is something of a GREAT FILM. It graces the lists of many influential lists and the lists of Film buffs

Citizen Kane was on one of my lists: Films I know I am supposed to have seen and loved because I wish to be considered somewhat of a cultured intellectual.

I approached the viewing of Citizen Kane with my mind blank. No, I was not tainted by the reading of blurbs! Nor was I was tainted by the affairs of history. I am honestly admitting. I knew not of Orson Welles, except his name was infuriatingly familiar. I prepared to be politically challenged in a way where anything remotely intellectual, and anything regarding politics challenges my mind to comprehend them. Politics bores me...intensely...so rarely do I delve into anything regarding politics, political history etc...

What the hell was this going to even be about?

The DVD cover told me 'Politics' . Cue audible groan by ignorant and terrible film student.
Some guy is standing behind a podium, his hand is outstretched in a manner that proclaims a sense of command, dare I say dictatorship, dare I say politics (more groaning). The backdrop behind him is his enlarged face, fearsome in my opinion.

I honestly though Citizen Kane was going to be about some man, a politician, obviously great.


From its ominous establishment, I was very confused and very intrigued. After a montage of elaborate castles and statues, a dying man whispering the words rosebud, a broken snow globe in some crazy place called Xanadu....all I could think about was fairy tales and Olivia Newton John.

Thats where I let my ignorance die....and my film buff inside me relish the visual imagery. When you watch Citizen Kane you see a tragic tale of a man who rose to immense power and wealth and isolated himself from his friends, his lovers and the world.
The little girl inside me LOVED it!
( And may I remind you, this is before I knew about the history!)

I have since learned that the film is way ahead of this time. That Orson Welles was a young prodigy who was somewhat of a rebel, incredibly successful at such a young age. He challenges real life media tycoon William Randolp Hearst in a portrayal that sought to get the movie banned and pretty much wiped off the face of the earth. Ah, It truly is beautiful when you discover that history teaches you that art can never really die....and that life is cruelly ironic.
The irony being that Citizen Kane is effectively Orson Welles and Vice Versa.

Effective immediately, I must see more movies that I should have seen.